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I'm a writer, living in Bristol in the UK. I've had a handful of short stories published but I'm still working on that Holy Grail for fiction writers- securing a literary agent. So, if you're an agent or have an Auntie, Uncle, second cousin, best friend who is one...

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Exploring fictional worlds in a flash

Three Line Tales : One

He lays the dinner table – one plate, one knife, one fork, a neatly pressed napkin – the pattern of his life.

There were other choices along the way: a woman with hazel eyes and a warm, forgiving smile; a child who could have been plucked from the family photo album, the same unruly hair, the same jutting, stubborn chin.

But he shook them off him like snowflakes from a coat. And now there’s only one way to be.

Alone.

Written for Sonya at Only 100 Words’ Three Line Tales. See the pic and write a story to match it. See here for the other stories.

That photo is from the holocaust memorial in Berlin. If you’re ever remotely near the area, you have to see that. It’s the most impressive art installation I’ve experienced, requires no words or language to grasp, all visceral.

I looked for other images of it earlier and found a news report DJ who had to apologise on social media because he’d posted a photo of him standing on one of the tallest stones, arms thrown wide, the broadest, cheesy smile on his face. Weird what some people find amusing.

I’m inclined to agree that a monument of these dimensions is needed to represent the immensity of the horror of the Holocaust. The arguments that it is just another form of mea culpa and as such has no meaning is a difficult one for Germans to use and sound convincing.

People want to forget – understandable in some ways as the war slips further into history. BUT sadly, genocide is not history and as long as we remind ourselves of how current it is, then memorials like this are important to remember past victims and to educate those of us lucky enough to have been spared. Perhaps one day we’ll learn the lesson

We forget too much as it is. Forgiving is very laudable and all that, but it isn’t for everybody, and it shouldn’t go hand in hand with forgetting. You can’t undo an action simply by forgetting about it. Yes, I think we do need to have certain unpleasant truths shoved in front of us often. There are already enough kids who believe the Holocaust never happened.

Genocide continues on a daily basis. Not on the scale of the holocaust but still, it happens. We can’t forgot. We can’t isolate ourselves, as did the character in your chilling story did, Lynn, from this fact. And genocide, past and present is a fact. Please god it isn’t a fact in the future.
Your story is fittingly chill and tells of loss just as the memorial does.

Thank you Lorraine. Yes, sadly, always a possibility in the future, as long a human beings think their beliefs are more important than others, that groups or individuals are below them. Not sure how we change that.

“Like snowflakes from a coat” — what a perfect simile for how some people throw away relationships. It sounds like he prefers to be alone, in which case that woman with the hazel eyes is probably better off with someone who prefers to be together.